So the swinging of a cricket ball is similar to that of the curve of a Wiffle™ ball…interesting.
Interesting thread. I must confess as an avid baseball enthusiast I did once attempt to discern the complete rules and strategy of cricket. I went online and found all the official rules . . . and boy was I confused. It seems to be a pretty complicated game, perhaps if I had the opportunity to actually watch a match I would understand how the sport works better. Unfortunately I don’t think they show any cricket on American television . . . is there any possible future for an "ESPN International ? I don’t know. Is it possible to help an ignorant yank comprehend this sport through words alone ?
I set my TiVo up to record everything with cricket in the title or description and so far it has only managed to come up with Pinocchio.
I believe that Fox Sports Net may show some cricket, but I don’t get that.
I’ve played both, as well. Duke is correct in his description, as you non-americans surely know, regarding curveballs vs. swing. Here is one misconception, though -
That’s really not true. It is slightly harder, but not more dangerous. Cricket balls are delivered on a bounce, which may make it harder to avoid them if they’re coming at your body, but the bounce reduces the speed. Baseballs are routinely (in the professional ranks) delivered at 95+ mph, and often are aimed at or close to the body. Baseball batters wear no protection other than a helmet (a small one, not at all like the ones worn in cricket) and a cup. People have been killed by pitched baseballs. Does anyone know how fast cricket balls are delivered at by the fastest bowlers?
Doesn’t help. I watched a game once in Santa Barbara and got only the roughest idea of what was going on. Certainly not how to score, or more accurately, keeping the score from happening.
It was something like, “Okay, the bowler throws the ball and the batsman tries to hit it. If the bowler knocks that bit of wood off of the wicket, the batsman retires and a new one comes up . . . Aha! The ball’s been hit and the batsman gets points by running back and forth, touching the wickets . . . when does he stop?”
I was figuring it would be when the ball got back to the pitch (?) or touched the batsman, or something like that, but no one seemed particularly interested in doing that. It rolled to a stop, someone strolled over, picked it up, and kind of lobbed it back in play (?) Certainly not like a ball hit into, say, the outfield. Very puzzling.
I was just a kid then and skeered of actually asking someone who’d know. And like NM, I’ve read the rules online and am still puzzled. So, how about it? Anyone want to tackle the task of explaining in terms simple enough for us 'Merkins what happes after the ball it hit? Does it matter if someone catches it before it hits the ground? Does it matter where it lands? What needs to happen to stop that running between the wickets?
DD
The fastest recorded delivery has been 99.6 mph by Jeff Thomson of Australia. Current crop go almost as fast. Especially Shoaib Akhtar, Brett Lee. Allan Donald of South Africa used to be the fastest about a decade back.
Well, fast balls can hurt. My father met Nariman Contractor him in the 80s. He was an opening batsman for India in the 60s. While on a tour of the West Indies, a bouncer did him in and he suffered a skull fracture. My father said he seemed fine 
As can be seen from the link below the fastest bowlers approach or even exceed 100mph :-
The fastest bowlers can get into the nineties, so are similar to the fastest pitchers. You are correct that avoiding a bouncing ball is harder because the direction can change on the bounce. Plus, there is no disadvantage to the bowler if he hits the batsman (unlike the free base in baseball). It is perfectly legitimate to bowl at the batsman. There are some restrictions - you cannot bowl beamers (once that don’t bounce) and there are limits to how often you can bowl short deliveries (a short delivery will bounce higher and be going at the batsman’s head or throat).
A bowler will try get the ball to rear up at the batsman so that the batsman may make an uncontrolled shot while trying to defend himself and get caught.
Cricketers have been killed by the ball. Here is a link to a fatality, although this was caused by being hit while fielding.
In the case you described, the batsmen figured that they wouldn’t be able to run more runs successfully. So they didn’t run more. The fielders figured that they wouldn’t be able to get the batsmen out on their current run, so they took it easy. The batsmen knew this and didn’t run any faster than they had to.
The way of getting a batsman “run out” is simple.
Someone from the opposing team must dislodge the stumps or the bails on top of them before the batsman make it back into the crease. The crease is a small rectangular area on both sides of the pitch.
Actually, someone can post a link to a good guide. Coz it’s going to take a lot of explaining to understand all the nuances.
Lamar: The cricket ball is not always delivered on the bounce. Bouncing the ball is permitted (and is the usual practice) but not required.
NothingMan: You can catch live Cricket in Nashville with the Nashville Cricket Association. Contact information for them is listed at cricinfo.org.
Thanks Monty - that might be fun.
I wonder if they have some sort of “Cricket for Dummies” primer you can read when you go to a match. Either that or I need to find someone to sit with who can explain whats happening to me.
Any hot single cricket chicks (“crick-chicks”?) out there ?
Back to swing - you can get a tennis ball to swing in a similar manner to a cricket ball by using smooth tape (I use gaffa tape) to completely cover half the tennis ball. You have to try and make it really smooth. If you then bowl (or throw, I guess) the ball really fast, you can get a bit of swing - very handy in backyard cricket.
As for TV coverage, I don’t know what’s covered in the US, but possibly one of the best opportunities would be coming up at the end of this week - the Cricket World Cup is starting in South Africa - it would seem to be the most likely event that someone in the US would cover.
All I’d add to Gyan9’s comment is that there are ten different ways a batsman can be given out, and that a fielder catching the ball before it touches the ground is one of them. Batsmen are allowed to hit the ball anywhere they like – there are no “out of bounds zones” – and they can attempt to run as much as they like, at their own risk.
Be sure to read up on the game before the match.
Well, I have Brian Johnston’s Guide to Cricket" (originally entitled All About Cricket) {ISBN 0-491-03922-0} which is written from a British viewpoint for a British audience, and Tom Melville’s Cricket for Americans: Playing and Understanding the Game {ASIN 0879726075} that’s absolutely outstanding for Americans as it’s written by an American for an American audience.
In my experience, the members of the local clubs are more than happy to sit by and tell you all about the action on the field and their opinion on what the captain should’ve done.
Do your own fieldwork. 
OK, firstly the speed of the ball is measured out of the bowler’s hand, and it slows down slightly off the pitch.
I’ve played in a (cricket) match where a fielder who wasn’t paying attention got hit in the chest by a ball returned from the outfield. His heart stopped. I got it going again with CPR, and he was coming around by the time the Zambucks arrived.
When the ball is played off the bat, the batsmen may run at any time until the ball is ‘dead’ - it crosses the boundary for a score of 4 or 6 (if the ball crosses or hits the boundary on the full), one of the two batsmen is out, or the ball is “at rest in the hands of the bowler or wicketkeeper”.
There’s no requirement for the batsmen to run. They will only do so if they think they can complete a run without being “run out”. If one of the batsmen touches the ball after it is played (by being hit with a return throw, for example), the batsmen won’t take any further runs from that ball - it’s not one of the game’s laws, but it’s a point of fairness.
The batsmen can also run if the ball is missed, but not taken by the wicketkeeper. These are called “byes” and are counted as extra runs rather than being credited to the batsmen. If the batsman plays a shot, misses, and the ball comes off his body, the batsmen may run for “leg byes” which are credited similarly.
To score a run, the batsmen must each make it into the crease (not touch the wicket) at the opposite end of the pitch. They can do this as many times as they feel necessary and think they are able without being run out.
A batsman is run out if the ball is used to remove the bails from the stumps while he is out of his crease. This is relatively uncommon and usually a pretty bad error of judgement on the batsman’s part.
Hope this helps, DesertDog.
Other ways a batsman can be given out include being caught out, bowled (the ball removes the bails from the stumps), leg before wicket (the batsman didn’t hit the ball, and the umpire judges that the batsman would have been bowled if his body didn’t get in between the ball and the stumps), stumped (the batsman moved out of his crease to play the ball, missed, and the wicketkeeper ran him out before he could regain his ground), and (more obscurely) hit the ball twice, handled the ball or obstructing the field.
Anyone need anything else, or do I start an ‘Ask the Guy Who Plays 8th Division Park Cricket on Saturday Afternoons’ thread?
Sadly, it does not appear that anyone in the US is covering the World Cup. 
Luckily, I live close enough to the Canadian border so that I can catch some highlights on TSN
Here’s a link to where you can see cricket played in the U.S. From the only American-born cricketer within shouting distance of anywhere, come out and see what it’s about!
This is the club I’m trying out for this year. (Wish me luck in making their competitive squad, because I really really, really really need it.)
Got an opening for an off-spinner? 
Yeah, start away; I’d like to know loads more about cricket in a thread not confined to ball-speculating.
And hit his own wicket, and timed out. I’ve not googled, so I don’t know if we have a comprehensive list yet - we’re up to 10.